Thursday, January 26, 2017

Top 10 video surveillance cameras & NVR of 2016

Top 10 video surveillance cameras & NVR of 2016

In order to come up with a comprehensive assessment, the products on this list all adhere to the following guidelines:
·        The product must have been uploaded to the asmag dot com database between Jan. 2016 and Dec. 2016.
·        The main purpose of the camera must be for professional security; no Wi-Fi cameras, cube cameras, DIY, or cameras targeted at the smart home sector were included.
·        Only one camera per company was chosen.


Top 10 video surveillance cameras of 2016:

1. Hikvision DS-2CD6626DS-IZ(H)S Dark Fighter 2 MP anti-corrosion dome

2. Dahua HD-TPC-PT8320-T hybrid network PTZ camera


3. Axis XF40-Q1765 explosion protected fixed network camera


4. Sony SNC-VB770 ultra high sensitivity 4K network camera
5. Surveon CAM2441HI box network camera
6. LILIN ZR8022 1808p HD Day & Night autofocus IR IP camera
7. EverFocus EZN7221 2 MP Full HD ultra-low light camera

8. Pelco by Schneider Electric Optera 12 MP panoramic IP camera

9. DynaColor DynaHawk ZD series hyper mini fisheye IP camera


10. ITX NCB-2003PR/NCB-1303PR IP camera

Top 10 video surveillance NVR of 2016:

1. Wavestore A-Series NVR


2. QNAP VS-2204 Pro+ VioStor NVR

3. Merit LILIN NVR408M H.264 1080p real-time multi-touch vehicle standalone NVR

4. Milestone Husky M50A NVR
5. Hikvision DS-96128/2561NI-E16(-E24) Embedded Super NVR

6. Hunt HNR-16GSQ NVR

7. Dahua DH-NVR5216/5232-16P-4KS2 NVR
8. Verint Nextiva EdgeVR 100/200 Series NVR
9. EverFocus Commander 2 ENVR8008 NVR


10. Surveon NVR7800 series

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Access Control in the Retail sector

A guide to Access Control in the Retail sector

What is access control?
Access control provides the ability to control, monitor and restrict the movement of people, assets or vehicles in, out and around a building or site.

Access control is essential in the protection of people and assets and has the additional benefit of being expanded from controlling, for example, a single entrance door to a large integrated security network.
There are also huge potentials in terms of integrating access control with other systems, such as CCTV and intruder alarms, allowing for cost savings and greater security benefits.

What risks does the retail sector face and how can these be countered by access control?
The retail sector faces a variety of threats all year round, including shoplifting, organised retail crime and dishonest staff, and these risks can increase significantly during busy shopping periods such as seasonal sales.
Recently, the BSIA carried out a survey of its members to discover the trends in retail security over the last year. Over 50% of respondents felt that the use of private security measures in retail had increased over the past twelve months, with a further 65% anticipating this use to increase over the course of the next year.
Members perceived the biggest threat to retailers to be shoplifting and petty theft, with theft by employees following in second. Online theft and armed robberies were also considered to be risks.
Retail environments are full of valuable assets, both on the shop floor and in the stock room. Access control systems are all designed to permit access only to people with the necessary authority to enter a particular area, ensuring that goods and people are protected and helping to manage known or anticipated threats.
Generally, systems are comprised of three main components:
1. The physical barrier – to physically restrict access to a building or area. This can be achieved through methods such as:
Doors – secured by either a magnetic or strike lock, or can be revolving or sliding.
Turnstiles and speed gates – designed to limit access to one person per identification device.

2. The identification device – there are a number of different technologies available to identify users of an access control system, including:
A proximity card and reader via Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) – these cards can be programmed to work at a short or long read range
A smart card and reader
A swipe card and reader
PIN pads
Biometric devices such as fingerprint or iris scanning

3. The door controller and software – these are at the heart of the access control system and are used to decide who can gain access through which entry point and at what time of the day are they permitted. These can vary depending on the size of the system and how many readers or sites you are trying to control from one point. Some of the options include:
A stand-alone door controller linked to a single door with no software
A number of door controllers all linked together to a single PC to control one site
A number of sites all interlinked together over a wide network area

The added benefits of access control
Retail environments often incorporate large numbers of staff working varied shift patterns. Access control systems can offer a wide range of benefits, including Human Resource management and integrated security systems.

Time and attendance
Retail security does not necessarily just offer protection for the shop floor itself, but can encompass all stages of the supply chain – including staff offices, warehouses and even the delivery process. Naturally, various different employees and outside visitors are involved in these processes and access control systems can assist with staff management.

Badge/token technology can be used to record employee hours and monitor visitor movement within a specific site. If appropriate, these can be processed against working hours, applicable for both temporary and permanent staff – this can be useful for busy shopping periods when additional seasonal staff are employed temporarily. This can work in real time to feed transactions through to the company’s payroll. Time and attendance systems also accurately help keep employers on the right side of the European Working Time regulations and manage holidays and absences effectively. Fast, accurate and easy-to-use, these systems are suitable for businesses employing just a few people, right up to large multinational companies.

Automatic Number Plate Recognition
To monitor the movement of vehicles around an area, CCTV-style cameras and computer software can be used to identify number plates of vehicles. Some systems can also store photographs of the driver and vehicle for subsequent analysis.
This sophisticated software allows critical information to be passed to the police to assist in the pursuit, identification and capture of offenders should an incident occur. For example, if a shoplifter flees the scene of a crime via a vehicle, ANPR cameras situated around an area could help identify the criminal. Visual proof of parking offences with the corresponding time and date information is provided as evidence and to avoid disputes. Using a Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) link, monitors are then able to identify the owner of a vehicle and process the offence automatically.

Fire roll call
Health and safety is a key consideration for any business. Since retail environments involve multiple staff members with varying shift patterns, it can be difficult to keep track of all employees during an emergency. Fire roll call technology generates a report containing crucial information in relation to who is within the building and potentially where they are. This software operates via the access control smart card or fob that an employee uses to gain access to or exit a building. In the event of an emergency, the fire roll-call software alerts occupants to the emergency whilst simultaneously activating the report at a safe pre-determined remote point.

Please note: In order for the fire roll call software to effectively carry out its function, employees and visitors must always present their card or badge. The use of smart card or RFID controlled turnstiles can help in this situation.

Integrated security systems
For maximum security, retail environments can benefit from a fully integrated access control system with CCTV, intruder alarms, fire detection and building management systems. One way to attain this is by adopting the use of Internet Protocol (IP) technology, which allows these systems to communicate with each other to maximise their effectiveness.
Separate access control and intruder alarm systems, for example, could allow an employee to access an area that is set with an alarm.

However, unless the employee has the authority to unset the system, the access would result in a false alarm being activated – potentially causing panic in a retail environment. An effectively integrated system would recognise that the user does not have the authority to unset the system, so would not allow them in the area to begin with.

What else should you know when considering access control?
An initial risk assessment of an area can determine the level of security required and subsequently influence the access control system you choose. BSIA access control members and professional security consultancies can assist with this.
BSIA members are subject to rigorous checks before they are admitted into membership, meaning that you are selecting a quality company. Below are just some of the reasons why BSIA members can offer you peace of mind:
They are independently inspected to the quality standard ISO 9001 with a UKAS accredited inspectorate
They comply with relevant British and European Standards and codes of practice
Are financially sound
Professional
Staff vetting has been conducted where necessary
They are technically proficient and committed to quality training and development
They are up-to-date with the latest developments in British and European policy and legislation

What legislation should you be aware of?
The Disability Discrimination Act was amended in 2005 and has a significant impact not only in terms of the design of new systems, but also means that many systems may need to be upgraded to ensure compliance and adequate, user friendly access to the building for all staff and visitors.

Other considerations to be aware of:
National minimum care standards
Health and Safety at Work Act
Occupiers Liability Act
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations.

Friday, January 6, 2017

Automatic connect to Internet when modem is ON

Automatic connect to Internet when modem is ON

Many time I received call from Technicians, Engineers from various organization that Sir my customer couldn’t see video feed in their laptop, Sir I have BSNL Broadband how to enable auto connect when Modem switch is on. If you are using BSNL broadband in India and most of the time you will be connecting to internet using a username and password. You might be wondering why you can’t connect to internet when modem switched on.
It can be easily done with few steps.
All you need to do is to setup your DSL mode to work in PPPoE mode. In this mode once the DSL link is steady the modem remembers the username and password and auto connects to internet when switched on.
If you are using a username and password to connect to internet with DSL modem (like Huawei) then that means you are most likely to be using Bridged mode. All you need to do is change this bridged mode to PPPoE mode in your modem control panel. This should work pretty much for modems supplied by BSNL or other third party modems.
Here are the easy steps….

Open your browser and point your browser to http://192.168.1.1/ to open your ADSL modem control panel. Type admin and password admin (in most cases).
If that doesn’t give you modem access page,

Next is to set up IP address and DNS IPs. There are 2 ways of doing it.
(a) First you can go to router and enable DHCP and it will automatically assign IPs to PCs you connect. You have to also enter DNS server IPs of your ISP in the router.
and the other method is assigning static IP.
(b) Go to > Network properties > Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) > enter ip, subnet mask and gateway as shown below…
(i) Set the IP address of PC in range between 192.168.1.10 to 254 (any one IP) with subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 with the gateway address of 192.168.1.1 (modem as gateway to access internet)
(ii) Next set DNS IP address to BSNL DNS IP address or if you don’t know BSNL DNS server IPs you can use open dns, dns servers lPs of 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 as an alternative to access internet.
Note: some modems use http://192.168.168.1/ for accessing control panel. Refer to your modem manual. 

Once you get into Modem Control Panel, you will need to edit WAN settings of PVC0 with VPI=>0 and VCI=>35 for BSNL connection. Edit it and set to PPPOE mode. There enter your BSNL username and password. Just edit this and leave the other PVC connections.

Here I am using Huawei modem control panel, supplied by BSNL.
Change the default admin password for security reasons.
Setup Wi-Fi security using WPA for your wireless router.

Important: Don’t leave your wireless router open. If you leave it open anybody walking by with a wireless laptop can have access to your internet connect without a password as soon as your modem is on. To prevent that secure your wireless router with a passphrase.
(i). Go to wireless setup > change SSID > home-Wi-Fi
(ii). Go to wireless security > select WPA > PSK string > Your password
Use WPA is it is better in security than WEP encryption.
Save All and Restart the modem and PC.
·  To check connectivity try pinging both to router and websites. Go windows start > run > command
ping 192.168.1.1
ping yahoo.com
Once you switch ON the modem and the DSL link becomes stable, you should be able to access the internet. No need for username and password.

Plus if you own a nokia phone or ipod that supports wifi then those devices can only access internet though PPPoE mode (always on modem)

If you have messed up the settings or unable to internet, just reset the mode by restoring the default settings either through modem control panel or a reset hole at the back side of mode. Once you reset the settings, your modem will be back to bridged mode and you will be able to connect to internet using traditional way of broadband username and password.